Technology

Fraser Forum is a monthly review of public policy in Canada, with articles covering taxation, education, health care policy, and a wide range of other topics. Forum writers are economists, Institute research analysts, and selected authors, including those from other public policy think tanks.

This report presents the results of the Fraser Institute’s 3rd annual survey of petroleum industry executives and managers regarding barriers to investment in oil and gas exploration and production in various jurisdictions around the world. The survey responses have been tallied to rank provinces, states, and countries by the severity of investment barriers such as high tax rates, costly regulatory schemes, and security threats, among other factors.

PARIS - You have to hand it to the French. They know that jobs and opportunity come from pushing new technologies and creating major economic players that have the scale to be global competitors. So they put major strategic weight behind the industry sectors they seek to develop. The high-speed trains - the TGV or trains à grande vitesse - that now connect Paris to many French cities and to London, Brussels and other European cities are the direct result of strategic support from the French government. The French continue to push the technology to higher speeds and to more cities

Genome Diplomacy: Canada's Crucial Role "
The most recent developments in science and technology, in genomics and related biotechnology in particular, hold the promise of significantly improving the health of nations as well as their wealth. Unfortunately, their potential also gives rise to struggles to control them, and there is a real risk, warn the authors, of creating another technological divide that would benefit only the most developed countries. For both ethical and self-interested motives, Canada should take the lead to ensure developing countries also benefit from this scientific revolution. ?By continuing along the path set by visionary leaders of the past, Canada could well become the world?s premier genome diplomat,? they say. By building on its assets, and by linking its foreign policy to its domestic science and technology innovation agenda, Canada could position itself as a serious international player in genomics to help address global health inequities, while reinforcing its weakened role in world affairs and benefiting economically from a market of 6 billion consumers. By Abdallah S. Daar, Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Peter A. Singer for the Institute for Research on Public Policy.